


Meant to be Heroes

by Graymuse42



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Abduction, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Burns, Drug Use, M/M, Pre-Canon, Protective Leonard Snart, Torture, Whump
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-27
Updated: 2019-02-27
Packaged: 2019-11-06 07:11:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17935199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Graymuse42/pseuds/Graymuse42
Summary: Alternate Universe where Cisco and Captain Cold met before the particle accelerator exploded, Cisco's powers woke up early, and Eiling took Cisco to experiment on.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back! (Sort of.) With a new fic! (Very new.)   
> Will I ever write a fiction where Cisco doesn't get abducted? Probably not if he's in the story at all.   
> Am I trying my hand at romance for the first time? YUP!   
> Do I have ANY idea what I'm doing?? ....I'll leave that up to you.

Snart liked to plan everything out, second by second. Know who took what responsibility, and who to kill should they not follow through. He’d placed himself in charge of watching the hostages at the bank as Mick cracked open the safe, figuring it was safer for the hostages to keep Mick separate. He would later look back and wonder if perhaps it would have been safer to leave Mick with the hostages. Fewer chances to burn things.

The hostages were lined up against the wall, crouching down and avoiding his gaze. Except for one. He’d slowly been inching away from the wall, thinking Snart wouldn’t notice. Snart smirked. The kid was cute, he’d give him that. Black hair pulled back into a bun, professional jacket covering a graphic t-shirt, and those eyes… Snart let him get a few feet away from the wall before he stepped between him and the alarm he had been going for. It was merely 5 feet from the wall, and had Snart been any ordinary thief the kid might have hit the button and been back before he’d noticed. But Snart wasn’t any ordinary thief. He’d noticed the kid’s tenacity while casing the place, and was certain that were it not for the gun the kid might just try to jump him.

“Now now,” he glanced at the nametag. “Cisco, no heroes. Just stay calm and we can all go home at the end of the day.” The customers weren’t going to do anything, Snart was certain of that. The employees weren’t supposed to either, but this kid seemed to be eager to prove himself.  While he could respect that, a robbery wasn’t the time to prove yourself.

Cisco just glared up at him past the gun. “I’d rather die in a world with heroes than live in a world without them.”

He glared down at Cisco. “If you live in a world of heroes you’ll end up killed, that’s certain.”

Snart flinched as he heard Mick call though the door “Hey boss? We’ve got a problem.”

He grabbed the kid’s arm, pulling him away from the wall.

“Hey, what are you—“

“I know your type. If I turn my back one second you’ll sound the alarm. You’re coming with.”

The kid tugged experimentally against Snart, but decided it wasn’t worth fighting. Snart kept an eye on the other hostages as he entered the vault, wrinkling his nose at the smell of burning wood. Turning to look in the vault, he nearly groaned. “Mick, what did you do??”

The table in the center of the vault was ablaze, and the flames were leaping at the ceiling. Mick stood in the corner, tugging at the deposit box doors trying to bust them open. “They won’t open!”

“Of course they won’t! The doors lock up in case of fire so the contents won’t be damaged! If we hadn’t disabled the automatic lock on the door it would be shut and sucking the air out of the vault right now to put out the fire!” Snart sighed, pinching his nose to clear his thoughts. “We have to go, right now, before the—“ the kid twisted out of his grip and kicked out at his shins, ducking and making a run for the exit. Mick was faster, catching him and tossing him back into the room. Cisco hit the side of the burning table and collapsed onto the floor, gasping as the breath left him at the impact.

Snart grabbed the kid and hauled him up and out of the vault. “Dammit Mick! We have to get out of here, now.” The kid was sucking in breaths, stumbling as Snart dragged him along. His hair had fallen out of the tight bun it had been in, and was hanging around his face in a way that made him seem even younger.

“What’s the hurry?”

“The hurry is that the police don’t need to be notified when you just alerted the fire department. They’ll be here any second, and you can be sure the police won’t be far behind.”

Mick glanced to the kid, and Snart looked down too. “If we need a way out…”

Snart thought about it for a moment before agreeing. “Sorry kid, looks like you won’t be making it home tonight.”

 

They’d lost the sirens a few miles back, but Snart was still being careful. They’d tied the kid up and put him in the back of the van, making sure the others had known exactly what to tell the police. _Stay away or he’s dead._

Now they were driving the last few miles till they could ditch the van and get into a car, making their way back to one of their many safe houses.

 _One we can’t use again,_ Snart thought bitterly to himself. Taking hostages with them was never a good plan. Thanks to Mick’s idiotic pyromania, it had become necessary. But that didn’t make it a good plan.

Snart glanced back to where their hostage was tied up. The kid had managed to twist his arms behind his back into a painful position, putting far too much pressure on his shoulder. The kid was biting his lip as tiny whimpers slipped out at every jostle from the car.

Snart groaned. “Mick, help him out.”

Mick climbed back, exhibiting more agility than expected in a man of his size in a moving vehicle.

The kid glared through his hair that had fallen in his face, but he didn’t argue as Mick took his shoulder in his hand. The pain was becoming too much, and his eyes seemed glazed and unfocused. He hissed, biting back another whimper as Mick twisted the arm back into position behind his back. Snart could hear his breathing now, harsh and labored. “Talk to me kid,”

There was no response. While Snart focused on the road Mick checked for the kid’s pulse. He froze.

“Shit.”

“Mick?”

The kid was on his side, barely moving aside from the rapid breathing. Mick moved his hair aside from where it had fallen, taking a good look at his neck. “It’s bad. Kid must have got burned when he fell into the table. His neck’s all sorts of blistered.”

Snart swore, speeding up. “Alright, do you think he’s conscious at all?”

“If he is he’s in shock. Doesn’t seem to be able to hear what I’m saying.”

“Untie him, and see if you can’t get one of those burn packs on his neck. If he fights you any feel free to knock him out.”

 

Cisco was still dazed by the time they’d switched two burner cars and had made it to the safe house. Snart grabbed the burn kit he’d planted in each of his safe houses and got to work on preparing the bandages as Mick laid the kid on the couch. “Open the shirt as best you can, if there’s anything stuck to the burn just cut off the part that isn’t.”

Snart grabbed a towel from the kitchen, running it under the cold water for a few moments till it was soaked, then returning to the room and observing the damage. Mick had rolled Cisco onto his side, exposing the damaged tissue. It was bad, but it could have been worse. There was an eight inch swatch of skin from his neck to his shoulder that had been burned, and pieces of his shirt had melted into the skin. Still, having treated many of Mick’s own injuries, Snart could safely say that Cisco would recover given appropriate care. Mick had applied an antibacterial cream in the car, which had served to help reduce the blisters. Snart gently placed the dripping towel over the injured section, placing a gentle hand on Cisco’s back as the kid hissed.

“Hey, it’s alright, we’ll make the pain go away. We’ve got this covered, just relax and remember to breathe. Just breathe, and everything will be alright.”

Cisco began to relax, slipping back into his dazed state. The burn had to be at least second degree, and the kid couldn’t have been out of college yet. Guilt began to turn inside Snart but he squashed it, focusing on addressing the injuries. “I’m sorry this happened…”

He took the towel off after a few minutes, applying antibiotic cream again and properly dressing the wound. The burned fabric would have to come off later, after the blisters had begun to recede. And after they’d gotten some painkillers into the kid.

 

The first thing he felt was pain. His shoulder burned worse than when he would try to cook, and moving just made it hurt worse. He gasped, trying to figure out what position _wouldn’t_ make him hurt, when something was pressed against his lips. “Here, this will help.”

Pills. He could do pills. Water replaced the pills soon enough and he swallowed, leaning his head back against the pillow he’d been lying on as he waited for them to kick in. He sighed, trying to piece together what had happened. He tried to rub at his shoulder with his uninjured hand, only to find he couldn’t move it. His eyes shot open to see his hand cuffed to the couch he was lying on. And the thieves from the bank were there too—he shot up, wincing as the pain got bad.

“You! You abducted me?! What’s happening? Why would you—“ His head swam, and he had to lie down again. “What did you give me??”

“Drugs. They should help with the pain enough for us to finish addressing your injuries.”

Cisco stared at them. “What type of drugs?”

“Non-addictive, so nothing to worry about there. Not legal either, in case that’s what you’re worried about.”

“You bastard. You son of a bitch, I’m gonna…” The room around him seemed to spin, and he blinked, wondering just how fast illegal drugs worked.

“They’re working. Mick, I need you to hold him down. Drugs or no drugs, this is gonna hurt like a bitch. I need him to be still during it.”

“You took my shirt? Why did you take my shirt?” He could feel them moving around, and he felt strong hands move him onto his side, exposing the rest of the burn.

“If it gets bad just hold my arm, alright kid?” The gruffer voice from the bank was talking.

“Why did you take my shirt??”

“We had to cut it off.” That was the annoying voice from the bank again. The one that sounded smug. He didn’t sound too smug right now though. “Parts of it are still in the burn, so we need to address it. The drugs should help you not care as much, and we applied some numbing cream to the area. Still, be ready. This is going to hurt.”

Cisco braced himself, grabbing on to the gruff one’s arms. The smug one removed the bandages over the burn and applied a cold wash cloth, and for a moment the burning was replaced with cold. Then he began to move it.

Cisco held tight to the gruff one, gritting his teeth and trying to ignore the pain.

“Look at something else, focus on it. The drugs will help you do that.”

“Focus on me kid, you see these burn marks? They don’t hurt anymore. It’ll get better.”

“Mick, we’re trying to distract him from burns.”

“What? They’re not his burns,”

Cisco focused on their words, focused on the easy way they talked to each other. Irritated, sure, but still affectionate. Like brothers should be. He kept breathing, focusing on their words until he passed out again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters? One right after another? *GASP* Am I perhaps on top of my writing schedule???

“Cisco, I’m going to change the bandages, alright?”

Cisco shifted, trying to chase the dream he’d been having. It was nice. He’d passed all his classes and had a steady job where he could pay off his student debt and still afford to live. A very nice dream.

“Cisco. This could hurt, I need you to focus.”

Cisco opened his eyes. Smug one was there, ready to change his bandages. “Go away…” he muttered, rolling over.

Smug one sighed. “I have to change it or it’ll get infected. Just hold still, I’ll try to make this as painless as possible.”

Cisco glared at the other side of the couch as he worked on the bandages. The high from the drugs was gone. “This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t dragged me into the vault with you.”

“I wouldn’t have dragged you into the vault if I hadn’t thought you’d trip the alarm.” The tape from the old bandage was removed, and Cisco held still as Smug applied what had to have been the antibiotic cream.

“I didn’t have to trip the alarm, your friend did that on his own by setting that table on fire.”

“Well I didn’t know that when I dragged you in there.”

The new bandage was on, and Smug was taping it in place.

“Why did you take me?” He wasn’t looking at Smug, just staring at the couch still. He wasn’t sure if he’d get an answer for a moment.

“We needed a hostage. You were already separate from the others.”

“So it was convenient? You took me because I was the most convenient one?”

“I got the feeling you would have objected had we taken someone else, what with your love of heroes.”

Cisco shrugged. The pain had died down now, but now what?

“How long are you going to keep me here?”

“Till we can leave. Why? Eagar to leave? Are we that bad company?”

Cisco shifted onto his back again, looking at Smug. He was smirking. “I have classes you know. A job.”

“Both of these things have protocol in place for when one of their students or employees get kidnapped. In fact you’ll probably get assigned lighter workloads from your classes for a bit, just to make sure they don’t overwhelm you.”

“...so you’re just going to let me go when this is over?”

“Why wouldn’t we?”

“Because I’ve seen your faces. Because I’ve heard you talking, I know your safe house, and I’ve heard your names.”

“Have you?”

“See your faces? Are you guys wearing masks? Wait, are you even human? Are you Aliens or something??”

“What? No, that’s not what-“ Smug took a moment to collect his thoughts, and Cisco smirked. “You’re messing with me. Alright. Have you heard our names?”

Cisco thought back. He’d thought he’d heard something in the van, but now that he thought about it he couldn’t be sure what he’d heard.

“I guess not.”

“Then allow me to do the introductions. My name is Leonard Snart, my colleague is Mick Rory.”

“…why would you tell me?”

“Well, you’ve seen our faces. The second you go to the police they’ll have you look through a huge book of faces with ours in it, might as well save you some time.”

 “So you’re really going to let me go?”

Snart sighed. “Yes, Cisco, we’re letting you go. As soon as it’s safe for us to hit the road, we’ll be gone. You’ll never hear from us again.”

“Good.”

 

Mick was in the kitchen, getting together canned food and in general pretending he hadn’t heard them.

“Go on. I know you want to say something.”

“Nothing to say. Not unless you want there to be.”

“Mick.”

“He is cute.”

“He-Mick!”

“What?” he chuckled. “I know you were thinking it. You’ve got a thing for the clever ones. You know, with attitude?”

“He hates us. We kidnapped him. No. Tomorrow we drop him off outside of town and then we get out of his life.”

“Sure, if you say so.”

Snart glared. Mick had a habit of not letting things go so easily.

 

Cisco stared, almost dazed. “You need some help there kid?”

“No, I can make it myself.”

Mick was driving, and Snart had unlocked the cuffs. They were seriously letting him go. Just like that. “What am I supposed to tell the police?”

“You went for the help button, we caught you and when our plan went wrong we took you as our hostage, you were burned in the skirmish and we drugged you and you don’t remember anything else.”

Cisco shrugged. It was close enough to the truth.

“Now, the police station is five blocks that way. Can you make it on your own?”

“Yes, I can walk a few blocks myself.”

Snart gently laid a hand on his shoulder. The one that was burned. “Make sure you get that seen to by a professional. Don’t end up like Mick.”

Cisco shrugged his hand off, staring down. He tried to ignore the way the black shirt they’d given him practically hung off his body. He felt even more childish in it.

“Hey. Chin up. Life gets better.”

Cisco glared at him for that. “Never let me see your face again.”

Snart shrugged, stepping into the car. “Bit of advice for that, get out of that job at the bank. Something tells me it’s not a good fit for you anyway.”

 

That had been 10 years ago. Snart had kept an eye on the kid through the internet. Watched as he scored a job at STAR labs, and had started working on the particle accelerator. Things were looking up for the young kid. Until it exploded, killing multiple people in the process. The facebook posts stopped shortly after, and Snart lost sight of him.

Mick chuckled, still insisting he had a crush.

A few months later, once he was certain STAR labs was no longer a safety hazard, he broke in, trying to see if he could find Cisco. He stuck to the shadows, and observed a man in a wheelchair, (Dr. Wells, his brain informed him) and a young woman in a doctor’s coat. But no Cisco.

He did however find two guns that seemed to almost be screaming his name.

Mick was obsessed with the first one, a kind of hyper powered flame thrower. But the second one was more Snart’s speed. A sleek weapon that shot a beam of ice that froze anything it touched.

When one month later humans with powers began to make the news, and were immediately silenced by the government, Snart watched and wondered. And Cisco’s words came back to him. _I’d rather die in a world with heroes than live in a world without them._ Well. Snart was no hero, but he wasn’t a fan of government either.

He glanced at the gun, and made a choice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I've got so many plans for where this is going, and I can't wait to get some more written for you guys! :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cisco 10 years later

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

He’d lost count of the days. Between the experiments and the torture, there was nothing to keep track of time by. Sometimes they left a light on for a bit, sometimes they kept it turned off for what must have been days. The meals, when he received them, were regular. He’d learned a long time back that acting up could stop those, so he’d stayed as complacent as he could. There were days where he couldn’t bite back the screams though, and when that happened the food would stop for a bit.

He glared down at his hands, hoping they would fall off. Maybe if he lost his hands, he’d lose these powers too. Without the powers, they’d have no need for him, right? And they’d let him go?

Cisco shuddered. No. They weren’t like Snart and Rory. If these people no longer needed him they’d silence him. He’d heard it happen so many times before. The cells around his were occupied by other people like him. Metas, they’d been named. Sometimes they could talk to each other through them. But if the guards found out they were talking then that would be a beating. Every time they figured out how another meta’s powers worked, that would be it. Cisco would hear a gunshot, and then no more neighbor.

He flinched back as the door opened. It wasn’t close to the time when they’d take him for experiments, so the general must be angry. Cisco forced himself to keep breathing steadily. If the general were angry he very well might need all the air he could get.

“Oh god… Cisco?!” He jerked his head up at that, staring.

“You? No…no, why are you here?” Cisco shrank back into the corner, eyes wide as he stared. Why did they bring you here?”

He curled up into a tight ball, ducking his head at the attack that was certain to follow. A hand brushed against his cheek and Cisco bit back a whine, wishing he could trust the soft touch. The hand withdrew and Cisco tensed, ready for the blow. But nothing happened.

“I don’t know what they did to you, but I’m getting you out of here.”

Cisco looked up. Snart wasn’t angry. He wasn’t about to hit him, or kick him. There were no knives in his hand. _He probably just wants you so he can take you prisoner again,_ his mind provided. But still… Snart and Rory had at least treated his injury. Had taken care of him, and had let him go. Maybe this time they wouldn’t let him leave. But whatever happened, things couldn’t get worse than they were here.

He nodded, unsure of what else to do. Was there a protocol to being abducted by the same person twice? Snart took his hand, pulling him to his feet. Cisco stumbled after him into the hallway, shrinking back at the sudden light.

“Here, use this to cover your eyes.” Snart handed him a strange pair of goggles that looked… oddly familiar. He donned them and realized that they were specialized sunglasses, designed to completely shield the wearer from any forms of harmful light. _Now why is that familiar?_

The rest of the base seemed quiet compared to the noises that usually echoed when he was being moved to some new experiment. Images of knives, blood, and scalpels began to flood his mind and he stumbled, collapsing onto the ground as he gasped for air. 

“Cisco, we need to keep going. I know it’s hard, but we have to go. Everyone else is out, and Mick’s going to torch this place in a matter of minutes, we have to keep moving.”

“I don’t-I-I’m not sure I can,” he gasped out.

“Dammit,” Snart swore. “Give me your arm.” He pulled Cisco up, draping his arm around his neck and half carrying him towards the exit. “Just hold on Cisco, just hold on.” Cisco could see Mick standing in the doorway. Could see the shock on his face, then nothing else.

 

Len felt the moment Cisco blacked out. He sagged in his arms and didn’t get back up. “Mick! I need help!”

“What the fu—is that?”

“Yes! Now help me carry him!”

Mick grunted. “Step aside, I’ve got him.” He scooped Cisco into his arms, carrying him the rest of the way to their van. “Damn, kid weighs less than when we kidnapped him.”

Len sucked in a deep breath, letting the weight of that sink in. He had no idea how long… “Mick, he disappeared a year ago. One year. You weren’t there, you didn’t see the look he gave me. It’s as if they broke him. We’ve been saving metas that the government’s messed with, but this… this is worse than anything we’ve seen before.”

Taking a moment to collect himself, Len came to a decision. “Alright, set off the charge and get in, I’ll drive us back to base-“

“Not happening.”

“What?”

Len stared at Mick in shock. “I did that last time. This time you get in the back with the kid. You’re the one with the crush on him anyway.”

“I-I don’t have a crush on him!”

“Sure you don’t. You just decided to take a hostage when we could have gotten away without. You just spent years stalking his facebook profile to make sure he was alright. That’s not a crush at all.”

Len glared at Mick, but didn’t say anything. Instead he climbed into the back of the van, pulling the door behind him and pulling Cisco’s head into his lap, stroking his hair and trying to ignore the blood stains and scars that marked his body.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Please bear with me, I don't have much written for this but I have a strong idea of where this is going, and I AM going to get back to finishing Frostbite, it's just that Frostbite decided it wanted a sequel and that makes things complicated.   
> Again! Thank you for reading! And thank you for your patience!


End file.
